This invention relates to an earth-mover vehicle that can perform the functions of plowing, grading, scraping, hauling and dumping.
The vehicle includes a bowl structure designed to contain loose earth, sand, gravel, etc. for hauling purposes or for ballast (when the vehicle is performing a plowing function). The rear side of the bowl is closed by a door that can be swung down to act as a ramp.
A bulldozer blade is hingedly attached to an edge of the door so that when the door is acting as a ramp an edge of the blade functions as a shovel to guide loose earth onto the door (ramp) surface. With the door swung down to its "ramp" position the vehicle can be moved to cause the blade (shovel) to advance into hard terrain. The leading edge of the blade lifts the loosened earth from the terrain. As the vehicle proceeds the loosened earth is pushed onto the ramp (door) and thence into the bowl.
The bowl is equipped with a conventional ejector plate. Earth, gravel, etc. can be discharged from the bowl by advancing the ejector plate longitudinally within the bowl cavity. Earth discharge takes place through the open end of the bowl and over the ramp surface.
When the bulldozer blade is adjusted to perform a plowing function the door functions as a link between the vehicle and the blade. The blade depth-of-cut can be adjusted by swinging the door (link) up or down around its point of attachment on the vehicle.
The vehicle is designed so that when the door is closed it has a sealed water-tight connection with the bowl structure. The vehicle can be used by the military for various earth-mover functions, e.g., creating anti-tank ditches, removing obstacles in the path of the troops, and forming placements for infantry, artillery or armor. When used by the military the vehicle is designed to:
1. be sufficiently light weight for air transportability purposes.
2. have an earth-containment bowl that effectively increases the vehicle weight when traction is needed.
3. perform relatively heavy bulldozing (plowing) functions.
4. have a water-tight bowl structure to enable the vehicle to ford streams and perform swimming operations.